Gilbert Campaign Criticizes Schieffer’s Lackadaisical Attitude On Healthcare Reform

Says Shieffer’s Remarks In State’s Poorest Region Shows How Out Of Touch He Is

TYLER—Democrat Hank Gilbert’s gubernatorial campaign Thursday afternoon warned Democratic Primary voters to carefully parse phrases used by gubernatorial candidate Tom Schieffer of Fort Worth concerning healthcare reform when considering who to vote for in the March Democratic Primary.

Schieffer, an intimate of former President George W. Bush and Bush’s appointee as Ambassador to Australia and Japan, was quoted in the October 14 Rio Grande Guardian as promoting mandatory health insurance in a format similar to auto liability insurance in Texas and saying, “I look at it like we have mandatory automobile coverage. Everybody has to have it and you have what they call an Assigned Risk Pool and people compete for the business.”

“That Tom Schieffer is likening the national health insurance crisis to mandatory auto liability insurance in Texas is really crazy,” said Gilbert campaign spokesperson Vince Leibowitz. “What he clearly wants is to simply make health insurance ‘mandatory’ and then let insurance companies gouge consumers using credit scores, rating territories, and data mining to drive up their prices. The end result is much the same as what we have now, insurance that few can really afford but that all will be legally required to obtain,” he continued. “Simply saying ‘health insurance is mandatory,’ will not work. It will not drive the costs down. It hasn’t driven down the cost of auto liability insurance and won’t do it for health insurance,” Leibowitz continued.

Democratic Gubernatorial Candidate Hank Gilbert said Democrats must work together to ensure that a viable healthcare reform package is passed.

“The health care system is broken and it’s got to be fixed. It’s not a matter of access, it’s a matter of a middle man taking his cut instead of a doctor actually making the money and a patient paying for solid coverage. We have to institute basic reform and bring the costs down by creating a real alternative to the cartel-like system of insurance companies we have today,” Gilbert said.

“Simply requiring folks to have insurance doesn’t do a thing to make the insurance affordable. There needs to be real competition and no more excuses,” Gilbert said. “It’s unfortunate that Tom can’t see what the vast majority of people in this state and nation see, that there is no real competition in the health insurance industry and the insurers are doing everything they can to keep it that way so they can bleed people dry. First they told us tort reform will lower costs and it’s done anything but. Malpractice premiums are still through the roof and patients still pay more.”

Gilbert further criticized Schieffer for making his statements about healthcare in one of the state’s poorest regions.

“For Tom to make this car insurance to health insurance comparison in the Rio Grande Valley is a slap in the face to the hardworking people of this region. It isn’t about access; that’s the dumbest argument I’ve ever heard. Anyone can get ‘access’ to health insurance if they walk down to the closest insurance agent; the problem is that they can’t afford any of their options. Tom doesn’t understand that because he’s probably never had to worry about paying for health insurance a day in his life. The taxpayers picked up that bill while he was in Japan and Australia working to advance President Bush’s agenda as the insurance crisis in the United States spiraled out of control,” Gilbert said. “We’ve waited for 16 years for insurance companies to reform and it hasn’t happened. Now it’s time for action to end the crisis.”

“How anyone can stand miles from the poorest communities in our state and colonias without running water in a region where parents have to decide between putting food on the table and keeping the lights on and make these statements is simply beyond comprehension. It isn’t about access, it is about affordability. People cannot afford health insurance, period. What Tom’s advocating won’t do anything to make it more affordable, it’ll just massively increase the profits of health insurance companies leaving ordinary people and health care providers squeezed in the middle,” Gilbert continued.